The Arizona men's basketball team was harshly reminded last night why it needs Joseph Blair.

With the 6-foot-10, 265-pound Blair still academically ineligible and forward Ben Davis held to just six rebounds, the Washington Huskies pummelled the No. 14 Wildcats inside en route to an 80-79 overtime win in front of 14,526 at McKale Center.

Washington (13-4, 6-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference) held a 52-31 rebound advantage as they took sole possesion of second place in the conference.

With the game tied at 79 and nine seconds left in overtime, Arizona (15-4, 5-3) rebounded a missed shot by Jason Hartman and Reggie Geary drove the length of the floor but missed a floater from the right baseline. On the rebound, Hartman was fouled by A.J. Bramlett and hit his first free throw with 1.1 seconds left for the lead.

After Hartman intentionally missed the second foul shot and UA called a timeout, Geary threw the ball the length of the court and it bounced off the backboard into the arms of Corey Williams, whose shot at the buzzer glanced off the rim.

The Huskies, with 22 offensive rebounds to UA's 12, were able to get second chances most of the night, and the Wildcats' problems were compounded when Davis fouled out with 35 seconds left in regulation.

"That's a problem we've seen with the loss of (Blair)," UA head coach Lute Olson said. "The biggest problem is our defense inside on their big men."

Husky forward Mark Sanford, while held to just 10 points (he averages 18.7), picked up 12 rebounds and UW's center combination of 7-0 Patrick Femerling and 7-0 Todd MacCulloch combined for 13 points and 10 rebounds.

"We have to get more aggressive on the boards, we can't sit back and say we're undersized or undermanned because it's all about effort," Williams said, who had 20 points and seven rebounds.

"It was a great game for us," UW head coach Bob Bender said, who in his third year at Seattle has turned that program around. "It was a trememdous job of showing the toughness it takes to win in this building."

The Huskies had lost 11 straight at McKale Center.

Despite UW's 28 turnovers, Arizona looked like they would lose the game in regulation, trailing 73-68 after Davis' fifth foul. But Geary hit a jumper and UA forced a turnover on the ensuing inbounds play to get the ball back. Williams then hit a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left to tie the game.

"I thought we had the game after Corey's shot," said Jason Terry, who had four points and three steals in a much-needed defensive effort from the freshman point guard. "They just played harder than we did, there's no excuse for that."

"We just didn't play good, (Washington) came out and wanted it more than we did," guard Miles Simon said, who finished with seven points, six assists and four turnovers. "It's frustrating losing games we should win. We gave them too many chances."

Olson was upset that the game was decided by the official's whistle and not the teams on the court.

"Most people who would make that call would have trouble sleeping," Olson said about the call with 1.1 seconds left. "Two teams play that long, that hard, that to have the game decided like that, by an official, it's a crying shame."

"It's frustrating to see it come down to a questionable call," Williams said. "To have it turn out that way isn't fair. I don't think Washington would have wanted to win this way."

Arizona didn't help its cause by missing 13 foul shots (22-35) and shooting 31 percent in the second half (11-36). Arizona shot 39 percent for the game.

Geary had 19 points, six assists and four turnovers while Michael Dickerson added 10 points off the bench. Davis was uncharacteristically ineffective with eight points and the six rebounds.

The Huskies were led by Bryant Boston and Jason Hartman, who each scored 18 points. Jason Hamilton added 11 points. UW is now 6-0 when Hamilton scores in double figures.